The Top 7... Little heroes in big worlds

Honey, we shrunk the protagonist

Y’know, games where you marvel at how different the world is from a centimeter-high perspective, where everyday locales like kitchens, bedrooms and chessboards become insurmountable challenges only the bravest of the brave can topple.

Once the NES became an untaintable gold mine for licensed dreck, crap games based on hot properties spilled onto the system like an overflowing cesspool. However, there were several excellent tie-ins that did the products justice and provided a kickass game in the process; unlike today, kid games of the NES era had the A team in charge, so only Konami’s best would be allowed to craft the toys-come-alive joy that is Monster in My Pocket.

Just look at all the would-be-bland environments made exciting simply by controlling a character the size of a thumbtack:

Picture frames!

Cheese and Apples!

Freezers!

Barbed wire fences!

Konami brand televisions!

Most embarrassing tiny thing that kills you:

Frankenstein’s monster done in by... golf balls? What would the torch-bearing angry mob say if they saw him done in by softly putted sports equipment?

As further proof it’s possible to make first-rate kiddie games based on cartoons and toys, we present Chip ‘n’ Dale Rescue Rangers, one of Capcom’s finest NES contributions. Chipmunks are a bit bigger than seen above, comfortably standing on a ceiling fan, but the perfect gameplay will distract you from such obvious disregard for reality.

One of the most popular and successful PS2 games doesn’t waste any time trying to mess with your head. Even though the game has just begun and you’re still trying to mentally piece together how Final Fantasy and Disney characters can co-exist, you’re quickly thrust into the size-changing, direction-distorting mess that is Alice in Wonderland.

Most of Kingdom Hearts takes place at normal height, but for a brief time you can gasp in awe of such inspiringly colossal objects as:

Girly chairs!

Teddy bears!

Dimly lit end tables!

Shockingly vacant dining rooms!

Discarded novels quietly collecting dust in the corner!

Most embarrassing tiny thing that kills you:

These floaty red asshats are everywhere. They just keep coming and coming, barely dealing damage, seemingly there only to make the size/orientation puzzles even more frustrating with their doofy eyes and stupid hover hats.

Remember Prey, the world’s only FPS that lets Native Americans repel an oppressive alien invasion? If so you’ll also recall sensory overload not unlike Wonderland, with which-way-is-up gameplay and, seen above, a room where you shrink and fight your way out of a head-sized box.